Can for cooking prepared meats



(No Model.)

, W. AEGEDEAGON. E

GAN EOE GOOKINE PREPARED MEETS, aw.

. Patented June 27, 1882...

WITNESSES. INI/ EWTOR.

www'

N. PETERS. Ptmwlilnugmpnar. wn-hingmn. D. C,

'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM AItOHDEAOO-N, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

CAN FoRoooKiNe PREPARED M EATS, sbc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,077, dated .Tune 27, 1882,

Application filed January 17= 1881. (No model.)

-is a specification.

'Ihe object of my invention is to produce a can for cooking meats, Sto., which shall be capable of repeated use. This object is accomplished by providing the ordinary can used for such purposes with a removable cover and with a vent which may be opened and closed at pleasure, as will be hereinafter more particularly set forth.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, Figure lis a perspective viewof a can embodying my invention 5 Fig. 2, a central vertical section thereof; Fig. 3,A a vertical section through one of the fastenings to the cover; and Fig. 4, a similar view to Fig. 3, but illustrating a variation in the construction of the fastening.

In said drawings, the portions marked A rep- A resent the body of the can; B, the cover thereto; G,bolts, and C thumb-nuts thereon,which form fastenings for said cover; D, a plug, usually iitted toscrew into an opening in the cover B 3 `E, a stop-cock or other vent, preferably attached to or forming part of the plugl), and F packing interposed between the shoulders of said plug and the cover B, and also between said cover and the top of the can.

In operation the can A is filled with `pieces of meat through the opening in the cover B (the plug D being removed) and subjected to the usual cooking process. When the can is entirely full the plug D is inserted and the temperature is raised until the air is substantially all expelled from the can through the vent in the stop-cock E, which is then closed and the can allowed to cool. As it cools, the sides of the can (which are preferably constructed of thin sheet metal) collapse, pressing the meat into a solid compact mass. When the meat has become cold the vent is opened, the top B is removed, and the cooked meat removed to a similarly-shaped can having an ordinary removable cover, from -which it is retailed in quantities to suit, or the cans themselves distributed to customers. After the meat has been removed from the canslast described they can be collected and used over again, thus saving the expense of new ones,

which has to be incurred when the ordinary cans having their covers soldered on are employed, as such cans are destroyed in the process of opening them. Y

It is not designed to usually employ this invention where the meats are to be shipped long 6o distances, or are to be kept for a long time, but, rather, in what is known as local trade,7 where the meats are speedily consumed.

The cover B may be fastened down with projecting bolts having thumb or other nuts there- 6 5 on, as shown; or cam-faced levers properly jointed to the can, or other equivalent devices,

may be employed for the purpose.

I regard the swinging bolt shown by Fig.

4 as perhaps one of the most convenient forms 7o for such fastening, as the nut in such case has only to be loosened a triiie to allow the bolt to swing back and the cover to be removed.

The vent may be in the form of a cock, as

shown, which form I regard as the most convenient; or it may be in the form of a small projecting pipe having internal communication with the can, and provided with a cap or stopper.

The packing F is used for the purpose of 8o .making the can more certainly air-tight, as is the ordinary purpose of packing; butas there are other methods of attaining this result my invention is not dependent thereon.

It will be noticed that the sides of my can are slightly inclined, the mouth being of somewhat greater areathan any other portion. The cover is secured strongly to the lbody of the can for the reason that during the process of filling the can, as well as during the process 9o the can must be of substantially the size of roo the orifice through which it is inserted. OtherwiseI the meat would be pushed up around the ed ges; and an instrument as large as the whole mouth of the cnn would he unwieldy and otherwise undesirable. It will be readily seen from these statements that any substantial departure from the form shown would not; he included in my invention, and the device wherein such a departure was made would not serve my purpose, and I therefore disclaim all suoli.

Having thus fully described my suid invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A can for cooking canned or prepared meats, having a removable cover in which is an orifice for theinsertion of thenleat, adapted to be closed by o plug or stopper after the can is filled, und :i closuble ventfor use during the process of cooking or preparing the meats, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the can A, cover I3, plug D, und vent E, constructed, arranged, 'and operating as and for the purposes herein set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seul, :Lt Indianapolis, Indiana, this 16th day of December, A. D. 1880.

WM. ARGHDEACON. 

